August 2008
by DateMe
Summary: Entries for the fanfiction section of the August contest. Entries listed in order of submission. Challenge: Dog Days of Summer, Pairing: KibaHina.
1. Practice Makes Perfect, hinatahyuugachan

**Title:** Practice Makes Perfect.  
**Author:** hinatahyuugachan  
**Rating:** PG (K+)  
**Pairing: **KibaHina  
**Challenge:** Dog Days of Summer

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, the original is posted right here on ff. net in hinatahyuugachan's personal profile.

* * *

Living might mean taking chances  
But they're worth taking  
Lovin' might be a mistake  
But it's worth making  
Don't let some hell bent heart  
Leave you bitter

--"I Hope You Dance" – Lee Ann Womack

The day was cool, with only a few clouds to block the sun's rays, providing ample shade for the ninja and his dog to run through the forest in relative comfort. Despite the beauty of the day, the young man seemed preoccupied, going on autopilot and disregarding the environment. The pair continued their random descent through the forest until Akamaru sat down abruptly and started wagging his tail. Brought out of his thoughts, Kiba stopped as well and sniffed the air to find the cause of Akamaru's joy. By his second sniff he had identified his long-time teammate, and by the fourth had concluded that she had also been in the forest for a time but was not yet tired. His fifth and sixth sniffs had brought to him the pleasant odor of her shampoo, as well as subtle whiffs of Shino and Naruto. So she had been following that idiot again. Jealousy rose within him, and he almost snarled at the thought of Hinata and _him_. Yet instantly, he was angry with himself for feeling that way about his two friends, and especially about his teammate – he should've controlled himself and stopped it firmly before it was too late.

He had always known that it was coming. The fact that he had fallen in love with his long-time teammate didn't bear thinking about, when the outcome was obvious. She only had eyes for a certain blonde that was rather color-blind…

He straightened from his crouch and figured that she had stopped by Shino's house on their day off, and had been shadowing Naruto for at least an hour before coming here.

"Kiba-kun! Hi! I was just, um, wondering where you were! I went to the market earlier to buy a bunch of stuff and dropped off a bento at Shino-kun's house. I w-was just wondering…since I-I um, made enough for four and so, here's yours. It has onigiri, and rice balls, and some v-vegetables, but there's also dumplings and dango and some pie and I wasn't quite s-sure if they tasted okay, because Shino-kun said they tasted fine, b-but he could be polite, and I gave you different t-types … do you think it t-tastes okay?"

He wondered what she was so nervous about – she had made them lunches before (which were extremely good, by the way), but this time her fear and worry was almost palpable, even without his enhanced senses. Kiba shrugged internally, and took the offered bento without a word. As always, it smelled delicious and was arranged in way that was aesthetic yet didn't mix up the different portions. He savored the smell, inhaling spices and a hint of cinnamon on the still-warm apple pie. "Mmmm, smells good to me," Kiba said, and proceeded to eating the dumplings, tasting beef and sausage and small pieces of onion and garlic. "Yup, tastes good. Are they all like this? You might want to put a little bit less salt… the sausage is pretty strong already. But other than that, it tastes pretty good. The pie is the best though…the cinnamon adds a taste of … well, good stuff. Haha."

After Kiba finished assessing the food, Hinata breathed a sigh of relief as he resumed eating. Taking out a smaller bento, (he glimpsed the last one buried beneath it, yet wrapped in protective foil to 

avoid scraping) she opened the lid to reveal dumplings and a large portion of steak. "U-um, I was planning on giving the last one to N-Naruto-kun… but I wasn't sure how to ask him, so could you h-help me?"

Fighting down the surge of anger and jealousy once again, Kiba could only trust himself to nod. He would help those two, because she deserved it, after all…

"Oh good, so this one's for Aka–eeep!" Her sentence was cut off as Akamaru reared and placed his paws on her, almost knocking her over. To her credit, she leaned back until she was settled and quickly put the bag containing the last bento softly on the ground to keep it safe. Once that was done in a couple of seconds, she did a twist to the side that freed her from Akamaru, leaving the almost seven foot dog (when rearing) leaning on empty air. Unfortunately, her maneuver placed her directly in front of Kiba, and he was too preoccupied with eating to move out the way. However, her 'eeep!' had warned him enough to place the food on the ground and quickly jump up to look around for what had caused her cry. His standing up made him collide with the already unbalanced Hyuuga, which resulted in her lying on top of him, both of them staring upwards with a vaguely confused expression before Hinata realized she was on top of Kiba. She began to twist around to ask if he was okay (causing the ninja below to start to sweat as the result of her fall had led her to be _right on top of him_, and her moving around on top of him was really not helping), and ended up placing her two hands on the ground near his shoulders after she had turned all the way around. She peered at him worriedly, her pale eyes searching his as her forehead touched his to check if he was still okay. (Kiba had, by now, stiffened from the proximity of their faces, and was blushing furiously, almost resembling a certain person nearby…)

"Kiba-kun?"

As Akamaru landed on the ground with the grace of a cat, while the two ninjas collided with each other, he started to eagerly pant and wag his tail, imploring Hinata to please-please-please give him the bento and nudged her in his efforts to be oh-so-subtle about his hunger. However, his nudge had unforeseen consequences….

The overgrown dog's nudge was more of a push to the two ninjas, resulting in an awkward (but enjoyable) kiss between the two. Two pairs of eyes widened, yet gradually fluttered to close as they enjoyed the unfamiliar sensation. When they finally broke apart, with Hinata jumping backwards and Kiba leaping to a crouch, both were breathless and flushed.

"Well," drawled Kiba, despite the fact that his heartbeat was jumping erratically, "since we _were_ on the topic of seduction and introduction, let's work on that kiss of yours… After all, practice makes perfect," and almost laughed as he saw Hinata redden even more (if that was possible), yet was undeniably pleased when she hesitated, then looked up at him and half-closing her eyes in an expression that made his heartbeat even more uneven, and drew closer for their first lesson, the lunchbox by their sides ignored in favor of a more…favorable pursuit.

**  
Author's Notes:** Thank you so much to all of those who read it :D I wish I could... bake cookies and give em to you guys 3 Feedback will be very appreciated : Do you guys think I should continue these series of Hinataxsomeone drabbles? Or should I make them separate? Is this one too long? Does it make sense? Are there any errors that should be remedied? What'd you guys think of the story? (Sorry for so many questions .) (Ack. I'm in a quandary- should the title be Practice Makes Perfect, or Favorable pursuits? feh, I'm in a muddle...)

(Also, for those of you who have started school! (Like me) Or will start soon! Good luck! Don't be overwhelmed by the amount that the teachers tell you that you have to do! It's manageable... usually ;) Best of all, have fun! Reunite with friends! Try not to stress too much!) (RAWRR. is anyone else in IB?)

Thank you! to **SilentSinger948**, **Rose Bringer**, and **Fowl68**! : So glad that you guys liked it!! Hope I don't disappoint...

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	2. Pavlovian Influences by shnickers

**Title:** Pavlovian Influences**  
Author:** shnickers**  
Rating:** PG ( K+ )**  
Challenge:** Dog Days of Summer**  
Pairing:** KibaHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, please visit our homepage on DeviantArt for directions to the original post.

—

**Author's Note:** I hate to start a story off with the dreaded and time-consuming "Author's Note," but I need to clarify one little thing before the start of the story. For those of you who have never taken a general psychology class, or for those of you have eagerly forgotten the contents of said general psychology class, here's a little lesson/refresher on Mr. Ivan Pavlov. Or you could Wiki/Google/whatever-your-method-of-preferred-search-engine-is it.

In the simplest of terms, Pavlov's classical conditioning theory stated that you can teach animals (including us Homo sapiens) through a stimulus-response system. In his famous experiment, before they fed hungry dogs, the scientists would ring a bell and immediately blow meat powder into the dog's nose. The dog would then drool. This process was repeated a number of times before eventually, simply ringing the bell would initiate a flood of drool, even without the meat powder. Basically, the dogs learned to expect the delicious smell/taste? of meat powder (yummy) with the ringing of a bell.

So, basically, you can teach an animal to pair a stimulus (to a certain extent…) with a natural, biological response (blinking, drooling, flinching, whatever). As for humans… think brownies or Kool-Aid.

Thanks for bearing with that. And now, on to the story…

* * *

Hinata peered around the corner of the market stall, white eyes wide with excitement. Various passersby looked just a second too long at the face brimming with shy, childlike anticipation. That is, until with a quiet incantation, veins bulged up around her eyes, now reflecting hard lines and intimidating intensity, whether intended or not. They quickly averted their eyes, quickening their pace as they passed.

Unaware of all else around her, she narrowed her eyes slightly, trying her best to locate her wayward teammate. She knew he liked to duck and weave through the crowded afternoon central street on the way to Team Eight's favorite training grounds with his constant furry companion. She also knew that he arrived at this spot around seven minutes after noon. It might seem strange that she knew so much, but…all that Naruto-watching had really improved her observation skills! And Kiba, while a self-proclaimed lover of adventure and excitement, rarely changed his routine.

After two long months of careful setup and execution, she was now ready to complete the final step in her…well, for lack of a better word, prank. Not that she was really the type to play pranks, unlike certain other ninja. But ever since she had picked up that article in Hana's office, initially scanning the text while waiting for Kiba to show up, the words had clicked together in her head, and her master plan had bloomed seemingly right in front of her stunned eyes.

It was perfect. And very fitting.

She had taken a couple of days to perfect the most important part of the experiment: beef jerky. Hinata knew Kiba had an affinity for meat; she had seen him frequently gnawing most ecstatically on flavored dried beef, so she decided to cook up a batch.

Unfortunately, it was a little trickier than it seemed. She had some experience with baking pastries—her love for sugar was just about as passionate as Kiba's affinity for meat—so she figured all that was involved in the making of dried beef was, well, beef, and some spices.

Apparently, baking cinnamon rolls and making jerky were two very different culinary projects.

She didn't know that certain spices induced upchucking reflexes when paired in great quantities with slightly undercooked beef. Thankfully, she had gotten a container to Hanabi in time. (Hinata really owed her for being such a willing test subject.) Three disastrous attempts later successively took her Neji-niisan, head chef, and eldest auntie out of action for two arduous, nauseating hours. The remaining occupants were forced to seek shelter outside of the compound.

In the end, she bought a few packets from the snack stall, and headed on her merry way. After all, home-cooked was definitely not one of the required parts of her project.

Securing the beef, it turned out, was the easy part. It had taken her days to work up her nerves and calm herself enough so as to not appear too suspicious.

The first attempt had been disastrous. She had stuttered her way over to Kiba, stumbled in the process, and forced him to catch her by the shoulders to avoid a head-on collision. Hinata had stuck her hand into her jacket pocket to grab the jerky and had instantly realized that perhaps thrusting it into her coat pocket was not the best way to transport meat—sticky meat, that was now linty sticky meat.

She had decided to forgo that attempt and try another day.

During the second attempt, Akamaru had somehow gotten wind of her carefully enclosed pocket and eagerly ripped the beef jerky out of its protective environment to run streaming down the street. He was just so big and as quick of an eater as Kiba, that by the time Hinata and Kiba had caught up to Akamaru, the only evidence left of the jerky was the pepper dotting his mouth.

Five wibbles and wobbles later, she had finally gotten the routine down pat. She would smile, greet him—"Hello, Kiba-kun"—and wordlessly thrust a wrapped piece of jerky at him. He, in turn, would automatically inhale and drool helplessly, before demolishing the meat in a matter of seconds.

Hinata had worried that because of all her failures and clumsy tactics, her subject had become aware of the experiment. Thankfully, Kiba had been caught in one of his periods of oblivious obtuseness, which came and went, usually staying longer than not. But a month of random acts of beef jerky kindness had not clued Kiba into any lurking motive—not that Hinata would usually have one, besides the kindness, of course.

Twenty meetings, twenty carefully staged greetings, and thirty-seven pieces of beef jerky later, Hinata was ready to call in the results of her ingenious, though unoriginal, experiment. In just three more minutes, she was going to watch as her oblivious teammate and friend drooled rivers at the sight and sound of her.

She could hardly wait.

Her chakra-advanced sight zoomed in on and pinpointed a figure in the far distance. Two figures, actually, as was expected. They were ambling along merrily, ignorant of what was to come. She smiled giddily, eyes soft and fingers twitching rapidly against the wooden post.

Kiba swerved in and out of pedestrians, market stalls, and various cart drivers, confidently and agilely avoiding each possible accident at the last second. He grinned, hearing curses and angry screaming aimed in his direction and simply sped up, becoming even more reckless as he wove through the lunchtime shoppers of Konoha's bustling market street. It wasn't until he was passing by a melon stand that he picked up a familiar scent buried within an entrapment of grease, sweat, and musky bodies; he instantly perked up and skidded to a stop, centimeters away from a cart-and-donkey driver, who swerved crazily out of the way while flashing his middle finger. Kiba ignored the half-crazed driver in favor of a pair of sandals peeking out from around the apple stand. He dashed over, coming to a stop in front of the startled girl.

And there, amidst smelly children and heavily perfumed teenage girls, was a breath of light floral and air. She smiled at him sweetly. "Hello, Kiba-kun."

He grinned and opened his mouth in reply when an immense flood of drool dribbled out of his mouth and down his chin.

Success!

Hinata's first instinct was to giggle and gently tease her friend, but instead she froze, horrified. She only just then realized how embarrassing it would be for this experiment to take place in such a crowded environment. Even though her friend was just about as boisterous and outgoing as could be didn't mean that he was impermeable. Judging from the stunned, wide-eyed look on Kiba's face, the embarrassment would be setting in right about… now.

The Inuzuka clan mark seamlessly blended right into the ripe tomato of his skin as he swiped his arm across his lower face. At the sight of that blindingly red, cute blush, Hinata snapped out of her stupor and quickly hurried over to him, gripping him by his other wrist and dragging him over to a less-frequented side street. He followed wordlessly, sleeve still protectively shielding his mouth, lest the floods began anew.

As soon as she had him in her protective custody, he turned on her, glaring. Sixteen years of mischief had made him privy to that initial gleam of trickery in her eyes at his embarrassing public performance. "What…"—he was careful to speak out of the very corner of his mouth—"…did you do to me?"

Hinata wrung her hands nervously and cringed as she felt his dark eyes drilling her into the ground. "I… I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to… I wasn't… I-I'm so sorry!" Bent over at the waist, she tensed as his pant-clad legs loomed closer in her restricted view.

"Whatever it was, it was fantastic!"

She lifted her head in surprise, mouth dropping into a small 'o'. "F-f-f-fantastic?"

"Yeah. I mean, it couldn't have been a genjutsu, because I definitely would have smelled the chakra use. What kind of technique was that?" His eyes were crinkled and friendly, smiling at her in obvious admiration.

After an eternity of blinking, her neurons resumed fire. "Well…" she began, eyes lighting up with excitement. "I found this article on Hana-san's desk the other day… I wanted to try the experiment, and since it was with dogs… w-well, I thought of you and…"

"Experiment?" He frowned. "Dogs?"

She nodded eagerly. "I-it was about… how dogs can be taught to behave in certain ways…"

"Will I drool like this forever?" he butted in.

"Um, no…" I don't think? I hope not…

He guided her back to the street, gathering the rest of the idea from his shy companion as she explained the original experiment. However, as soon as he stepped back among the throngs of people, a flash of orange and black zipped in from the right and stabbed a finger at his chest. "Hey, Dog-boy!"

Kiba glared at the offending finger before slapping it away. His elation had turned to pure and simple annoyance in the space of a millisecond. Only one person was skilled enough to do that.

"Naruto."

"Man, was that hilarious! I can't believe you droooooled at the sight of Hinata-chan! Maybe I should start calling you 'Dog' instead of 'Dog-boy'!" The blonde grinned smugly at Kiba, oblivious to the stuttering heap-of-a-girl shyly peeking out at him from behind Kiba's arm.

"So," continued Naruto, mistaking the renewed red flush on Kiba's cheeks for embarrassment, "are you and Hinata-chan like this?" He wiggled his pinky cheekily. "Or does she not like dog-stink?"

Hinata gasped, torn between continuing to hide behind Kiba and jumping away to assure Naruto that they were indeed not an item.

That simple, quiet sucking in of air gave Kiba the motivation and idea for killing two birds with one stone. After all, one good prank deserves another!

He snaked an arm around Hinata's waist and half-dragged her to press flush against his chest. Before she could even react—a blush was definitely forthcoming—Kiba lowered his head to brush noses, growling her name huskily. Her mouth dropped open at the unusually sensual tone.

It had definitely been his intention to stop the theatrics right at that moment and back off, just playing around enough to startle her and Naruto, but the press of her body against his and one glimpse of an enticing pink tongue paved the road to hell.

Kiba instantly pressed his lips to hers and dipped his tongue briefly inside her still open mouth to catch the bittersweet tang of strawberries before proceeding to thoroughly ravish her in front of the shell-shocked blonde.

Naruto blinked slowly to ensure his sight was intact—all those blows from Sakura-chan could potentially unscrew something one of these days—before shaking his head and muttering, "Guess that answers that question." He hightailed it out of there, weirded out by the sight of innocent, little Hinata-chan exchanging saliva with the dog-nin; also, he was pretty sure that afterwards there would be finger-pointing, and due to past experience, he knew the blame (and fists) would eventually fall upon him. Screw that. A bowl of extra-large pork ramen was bellowing his name. Or was that Sakura-chan…?

Hinata blinked numbly after Kiba finally released her, stumbling backwards to bump into a little, old woman. When the decidedly not so sweet granny shoved her aside with a squeaky curse on her ancestors, she turned to the wall, lethargically bobbing her head and apologizing repeatedly, though dazedly. Kiba watched in satisfied amusement as she then proceeded to trip over her own feet and totter back into the old woman, who graciously head-butted her back over to him, snarling under her breath about lewd behavior and oh, the state of morals these days.

He waited impatiently for her to recover her senses, and then grinned as she half-turned away from him, the tips of her ears bright red. "I-I-I… y-y-you…" she attempted, failing miserably as she hid her heated face in her jacket sleeve.

Genuinely concerned, he tugged her arm away from her eyes. "Hey. Are you okay?"

She didn't answer.

"Hinata. C'mon, answer me, pleeeease?" he drew out in a playful whine, one that never failed to cause a smile to bloom on her pale features, especially when armed with his mastered puppy-dog eye routine.

She pouted unhappily, unsuccessfully repressing a smile. "But Kiba-kun, y-you… and I-I… in front of…!"

"What? The little old lady? Don't think she minded." He purposefully ignored the crone's screeching disagreement two stalls away as well as the gigantic polka-dotted purple elephant Hinata toted around in her heart.

She was quiet, staring at her sandaled feet. "I like Na—"

"Well, anyways, I was just trying to show you that the tables have turned. Guess even you're not immune to this, uh, classical conditioner!" He hoped that was right.

Hinata jerked her head back up to stare at him. She had to desperately fake a cough in her right hand to mask the strained giggles bubbling up inside. When she saw the offended look on his boyish face, she sighed. Ugh. She just couldn't hold a darn grudge to support any attempted indignation whatsoever. Especially with Kiba.

"Besides, if you like Naruto so much—" Here he ignored her widened eyes and gestures indicating he should lower his volume, "—then why didn't you even notice that he left?"

"Eh?" Hinata glanced around, noticing that the hyperactive ninja was nowhere in sight. "Oh." She turned back to him, attempting to stab her finger at his chest, but too embarrassed to actually touch him; she ended up weakly poking her finger somewhere in his near vicinity. Bad dog. "B-b-because you…!"

"Me?" His smile was smug. And adorable… He shifted closer and the spell was broken.

"Don't…!"

Kiba was touching her again, lightly pressing up against her. How did he invade her bubble with so little ease and even smaller reluctance? Even though there were concerns and problems and frustrations flying around in her jumbled head, her body knew what to do when her mind failed her: she instantly shut her eyes and puckered her lips when his mouth once again lowered.

Her eyes snapped open with shock as she registered a wet motion against the tip of her nose. She stared at Kiba, who was nonchalantly tugging on a loose thread on his sleeve. "Did…did you just, um, l-l-lick me?"

His only response was to offer her a mischievous grin. "See? Told ya! Maybe I'm droolin' at you, but you're puckerin' up for me!" Before she had a chance to respond in any way, he whistled to Akamaru, who jumped to attention after having grudgingly resigned himself to a nap under the shade of a generously sized tree. Leaping on his back, Kiba offered her a playful wink before the pair dashed off to their previous destination.

Hinata watched the pair disappear into the crowd, feeling as if the world had swallowed her up and spit her into some strange alternate version of her life. She was Hyuuga Hinata! She certainly did not go around causing boys to drool and subsequently making out with them in public! And she certainly never let Naruto off of her radar! Never!

Deciding that this day was some kind of strange karma for something she may or may not have done in another life—probably as a criminal or a murderer—she headed home, cringing every time a finger pointed in her general direction.

Even with all of the chaos and strangeness, Hinata felt a warmth encompass her unlike any other. She allowed a smile—just the tiniest of dimples—to grace her face as she remembered how it felt to press up against a boy who wanted her and kissed her so hungrily. Her face went pink. As…nice as the experience had been, it would probably be a few days—months—years, before she could meet Kiba again.

Two hours later, as she was heading over to the public baths for a much-needed soak, Hyuuga Hinata literally ran into Inuzuka Kiba.

He drooled. She puckered.

el fin.


	3. All Walks of Life, LadyKnightOfHollyrose

**Title:** All Walks of Life**  
Author:** LadyKnightOfHollyrose**  
Rating: **G ( K )**  
Challenge: **Dog Days of Summer**  
Pairing:** KibaHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, the original is posted right here on ff. net in LadyKnightofHollyrose's (aka, LadyKnightOfHollyros on DA) personal profile.

* * *

His once steady footfalls slowed to a stop. His mouth twisted slightly in consideration, his brow wrinkling a little as he thought.

His short reverie was cut short however, as fur brushed lightly against his legs. Akamaru, it seemed had doubled back to see what was causing his owner (and friend) to be held up.

Akamaru's head turned up, questioning eyes fixing on the boy. The boy sighed, crouching down to give the dog a reassuring pat – Inuzuka Kiba was fine.

With a sceptical swish of his tail – if dogs could swish their tails sceptically – Akamaru marched forward, sparing a glance back to Kiba every so often to check on his whereabouts.

Kiba shook his head, taking up a leisurely pace as he followed behind, careful not to loiter in one spot for long enough to cause Akamaru to 'retreat and regroup' again.

He watched with amusement as Akamaru trotted over to an occupied bench, nose sniffling inquisitively at the one seated; a bored looking girl spinning a tennis racquet between her fingers. Head snapping around at breakneck speed, she regarded the dog reproachfully as her racquet became still. She didn't try to move away, but as Akamaru's nose neared her she flinched a little. Kiba allowed Akamaru a little entertainment before effectively coming to the girl's rescue – speeding up slightly to catch up, he passed by the bench calling, "Come on Akamaru" before moving on. Akamaru butted the girl's knee lightly with his muzzle, turned, and then continued on his way wagging his tail with delight at the muffled squeak he had received.

They continued down the meandering path; it had become one that they travelled down frequently since last summer when their original route of just going 'around the block' had altered to going to the park. Kiba could remember how happy Akamaru had been by the change and they had been taking walks there ever since.

The alteration in direction of their evening walks was not only for Akamaru's benefit – not anymore anyway.

On that first summer evening, and most evenings that followed, he saw the one who drew him back to the park on a daily basis.

The initial plan had been to only take Akamaru to the park every once in a while as a treat and for a change of scenery. Of course, any thoughts of his initial plan were completely forgotten when he saw her.

Always under the same tree, she sat with her back resting with her back resting against the bark, her knees up to provide support to the book that she was reading at the time.

Her hair, like her position, was also always the same; deep purple tresses that fell past her shoulders and framed her opal-like eyes. Her delicate nose always buried in a book as her eyes flitted across the page, brows creased slightly in concentration.

Sometimes he would catch a glimpse of her pert mouth, lips quick to smile though often being bitten in what Kiba imagined were probably tense or climatic scenes in the stories that she read. He had noticed, although most of her reading material seemed to consist of mainly novels and the odd manga thrown in, she occasionally brought along a textbook of some kind or notes to study from.

Before he knew it, his motivation to go out in the evening had less to do with Akamaru getting exercise and more to do with having the opportunity to see her. He found himself unconsciously searching for her every time he happened by the tree. And rarely was he disappointed – every day barring week ends there she'd b, under the tree with a book. When rain was light she'd choose a nearby bench to perch on, balancing an umbrella between her neck and shoulder as she glanced through a booklet. The only time that Kiba had noted her absence was when the weather was particularly awful (not that he could really blame her – the two times that he had been out to check even the energetic Akamaru had out-right refused to set foot out of the house to accompany him).

Kiba hadn't noticed the way that she seemed to creep into his thoughts as his interest concerning her grew – who was she? What was she like? Where was she from?

He hadn't seen her in the neighbourhood (apart from at the park itself, of course) and he couldn't remember ever seeing her at his own college…

Kiba had often contemplated going over and starting a conversation with the girl, if only to satisfy his own curiosity of what her voice sounded like or what her type of personality she had… But every time the temptation to do so surfaced, he rejected the idea – what if her reason for going to the park was for the peace and quiet, the uninterrupted time to herself that she revelled in because the need to communicate with others never arose? If so, he certainly did not want to intrude, particularly if that would prevent her form continuing to come. He could be content with just observing from afar.

"Kiba!"

Kiba was shaken from his thoughts once again, though the time the disturbance was in the form of Nara Shikamaru, a classmate of his. "Man, where were you? I had to call you three times before you even noticed me… so troublesome."

Kiba grinned; Shikamaru found everything troublesome. "What are you doing here?" he asked, bending down as Akamaru vied for his attention. Running his fingers through the thick fur he gave Akamaru a nod – the dog was allowed to continue

further without him as long as he didn't venture too far. Licking Kiba's cheek, Akamaru bounded away, wagging his tail as he went.

Straightening, he listened to Shikamaru's response, "I was cloud gazing. Until I got a call from my mother demanding that I 'make myself useful and do the shopping' while I was out. It's such a pain – today's supposed to be the clearest day this week…" He continued to grumble to himself for a few moments before returning the question.

"I was walking Akamaru…"

A few short conversations (and an irritated call courtesy of Shikamaru's mother) later Kiba was waving Shikamaru off as he ambled in the direction that Akamaru had taken.

Following the path around the basketball courts, the sight that greeted him all but stopped his heart.

Akamaru, apparently tired of waiting for Kiba to catch up, had taken it upon himself to investigate the one that seemed to occupy his friend's thoughts (because it was clear even to Akamaru what the cause of Kiba's outings in the frigid rain was). As Kiba stood transfixed, Akamaru conducted his own inspection of sorts, sniffling at the girl whilst circling her, his manner playful rather than menacing.

The girl kept one eye on the dog as she leafed through her book (which looked to be a shoujo manga, Kiba noted). She didn't particularly seem to mind the company as long as she was not disturbed.

Alarm bells rang in the recesses of Kiba's mind as Akamaru pawed his nose – a sure sign of brewing mischief. He wanted to retrieve Akamaru before there was a chance for him to disturb her, but at the same time he was also curious about how she would react to whatever it was that Akamaru was planning…

Without warning, Akamaru flopped onto the girl's stomach, making her start at the sudden, unexpected contact. Kiba's eyes grew wide: what on earth was Akamaru doing?!

Carefully reaching to her other side, the girl retrieved her bookmark and slid it into the book, careful not to disturb her charge. Setting it aside, she opted to simply observe for a moment or so, a small smile playing across her lips as Akamaru blinked up at her, head lolling to the side slightly. Ever so slowly, her fingers stretched out to gently pet his head, Akamaru gave a delighted yip, beginning to wriggle around so that he was sprawled out on his back. She giggled lightly and continued to rub his belly.

The sound of her voice, like a chime tinkling in the wind, finally urged Kiba forwards. It was odd – as he neared her the more nervous he felt, and Kiba didn't get nervous about anything. Although he had been considering speaking to her for months, now that Akamaru had practically forced him into the situation, he had no idea what to say…

"Hey," the girl seemed to tense slightly at the sound of his voice. "Akamaru, you know no matter how nice this girl is Hana will kill me if you follow her home." Akamaru yowled and turned to the side as though to ignore him. Instead the dog opted to lick the mentioned girl's hand instead.

Hearing Kiba address the dog, she seemed to relax. Her cheeks coloured to a light shade of pink as she smiled, "S-so you are this dog's - Akamaru's - owner?" Her voice was quiet, almost tentative.

"You could say that, I guess," replied Kiba with a lopsided grin. "I prefer to think that we're friends though." He crouched down so that his eyes were level with hers. "I'm Inuzuka Kiba – nice to meet you." He held out a hand for her to shake.

She regarded him slowly with veiled interest, taking in his casual appearance and the two small triangular tattoos that adorned his cheeks. She searched his eyes for a moment, for what he could not guess, before clasping the hand lightly in her own. His larger had easily enveloped her delicate one. "Hyuuga Hinata. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The just smiled at each other for a moment.

That is, until Akamaru decided to lick their entwined hands and bark in objection.

Hinata's eyes lit as she laughed freely, before correcting herself, "It's a pleasure to meet you both."

-Hollyrose-

**Author's Note:** Well, this didn't turn out how I had planned it to. Oh well. So this is August's entry for "DateMe" (who have a profile here, and on DeviantArt - go check all the entries out!), and I'm back to my AUs again! And this is my first ever KibaHina (I'm having alot of 'first's at the moment) despite it being my favourite pairing when I first got into Naruto fanfiction.

Oh yeah, about the part with the girl with the tennis racquet... That's effectively what happens every time I go to my park to play tennis with my friend!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this OneShot!


	4. Dog With a Bone by Ms Videl Son

**Title:** Dog With a Bone  
**Author: **Ms. Videl Son**  
Rating:** PG-13 ( T )  
**Challenge:** Dog Days of Summer  
**Pairing: **KibaHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, the original is posted right here on ff. net in Ms. Videl Son's (aka, megaminoeien on DA) personal profile.

* * *

Puberty always proves to be a trying time for Inuzuka males. Sure, every adolescent boy suffers from raging hormones, a cracking voice and a new version of bed wetting, but very few outside of the infamously wild canine clan of Konoha experience some of the more...unusual side effects of maturation passed down from Inuzuka father to pup. Things like heightened aggression, licking oneself in...unorthodox places and, possibly most embarrassing of all, an obsessive fixation with female hindquarters. That, and the propensity for an excessive amount of body hair in a handful of the male (and sometimes female) population of the compound (luckily, that particular indignity seemed to be borne of some kind of recessive gene and only affected about five percent of the clan overall).

Of course, over the generations the men of the Inuzuka clan learned to deal with these teenage shortcomings and accept them as a natural part of life. Besides, most of the symptoms were easy enough to hide and/or play off as relatively normal, so most individuals outside of the family were relatively unaware of any significant differences between them and their own children. Those that did know about the oddities of Inuzuka puberty simply accepted them as "one of those things" and pretended not to notice when one of the twelve-to-eighteen-year-olds dragged his butt across the living room rug.

Not that any of this was of any significant comfort to one Inuzuka Kiba, who had just endured _the_ most humiliating experience of his young life. And there was no telling how Hinata felt about the whole thing...

The day of the...unpleasantness had started out innocently enough, as they usually do. Kiba had met up with Hinata at their usual training spot – out in the middle of the woods where they could practice their exceptional tracking and scouting skills without hindering or being hindered by many of their fellow ninja – and spent a good portion of the morning running about and practicing their jutsu. The only notable difference between this morning and every other was the absence of Shino, who had been called away on a mission the afternoon before and wasn't scheduled to return to Konoha for another three days. Other than that, all was same old, same old.

Until it was time to take a mid-afternoon break, anyway. That's when everything began to go wrong.

"It's so hot," Hinata had complained to herself, fanning her reddened cheeks with both hands.

"So take off your coat," Kiba, who had already discarded all articles of unnecessary clothing from his person hours beforehand, suggested. His bare shoulders were starting to feel tender and hot to the touch under the direct sunlight of the clearing in which they were resting, but it was all worth it to experience that occasional wandering breeze that randomly swooped down on them from the swaying treetops.

The heated flush in the Hyuuga heiress' face spread outwards until it reached her ears. "B-But – "

"I don't know how you can stand to wear that thing year-'round anyway," Kiba countered before she could even stutter out her argument. "You're going to die out here in all this heat if you leave it on."

Hinata lowered her eyes to the lavender and indigo windbreaker that adorned her slight frame, possibly considering her well-meaning friend's logic (or, perhaps, trying to invent a new excuse to keep it on over her modesty).

After nearly a full minute of staring at her front with a troubled expression stretched across her face, she finally relented with a slump of her shoulders. "O-Okay...I g-guess you're r-right."

As she raised her hand to take hold of the zipper (which was dangling right beneath her chin, just about), the adolescent dog-boy turned away from her in search of refreshment. The wind had died down nearly ten minutes ago and didn't seem interested in coming back anytime soon, so it was up to him to lower his body temperature now.

Pouring the remnants of his half-empty canteen over his head, Kiba reveled in the cooling effect of the lukewarm water on his overheated anatomy. As some sort of happy bonus, each little descending river created from the heavy downpour tickled the little crevices of his chest and abdomen, causing his hardened muscles to flex slightly in rhythm with the flow. The liquid pooled somewhere out of sight beyond the waistband of his shorts and, past that point, lost its mildly chilled quality and mingled indistinguishably with the sweat from his morning workout.

Almost by reflex, Kiba began to shake the revitalizing droplets away after only a few long moment's pause. It flew away from his hair and torso on a willy-nilly trajectory, showering 360 degrees of his surroundings with the excess moisture.

Ahh...that felt nice.

"_Eee_! K-Kiba-kun!"

Upon hearing Hinata's squeal, the Inuzuka teen immediately halted the rapid motion of his gyrating body and adopted his most sheepish expression. Turning back in his teammate's direction, he began apologizing profusely. "Geeze, Hinata, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to – "

The remainder of his regretful statement fell away as his jaw thudded against the forest floor. Hinata – his long-time friend and training partner – was squatting on the grass beside him, sans jacket for what was probably the first time ever in his presence, and looking far more..._mature_ than he'd ever pictured her (the fact that he had been imagining her in lesser states of dress before this date being completely beside the point, naturally). To make matters more awkward, the loose white tank top that she'd apparently been wearing underneath her baggy layers clung to her almost-whiter skin, soaked as it was across the front by the spray that had descended upon her during Kiba's shake down.

What Kiba had said about Hinata being hot was proving true in more ways than he had initially fathomed. She looked as delectable as a t-bone with shreds of meat still clinging to the sides...

"It's o-okay, Kiba-kun," she assured him with a sweet smile that sent a shiver of longing up his spine. "I'll dry. M-May I borrow your towel?"

Unable to force his heavy tongue to form words (hell, he couldn't even seem to withdraw it back into his mouth), he simply nodded at her and pointed to his bag with a trembling hand.

Climbing to her feet, she bowed deeply to him (which only exacerbated his shameful condition) and quietly said, "Thank you, Kiba-kun" before proceeding directly to the hiking backpack he toted around with him almost everywhere.

He'd been able to hold himself back when she'd bowed to him, when she'd walked away from him with a sway in her hips and even when she'd lifted the hem of her shirt to wring some of the water out of it, but when Hinata bent down to rummage through his belongings for the desired piece of terrycloth, Kiba just hadn't been able to take it anymore. He'd jumped on her.

Thinking back on the entire fiasco was painful for the Inuzuka teen, but it was one of those memories that absolutely refused to go away, even in the middle of the night when the all the other members of his household were chasing rabbits in their dreams. There was just no way to assuage the guilt he felt over tackling her and...and humping her leg like that...oh, geeze, it was even worse in hindsight! Some of the men in his family had been neutered for less.

She'd never speak to him again, he was sure of it. He didn't blame her a bit, either, considering how he and his uncontrollable hormones had nearly violated her. The only bright side to the whole fiasco was that he'd been able to stop himself before actually –

"_You are my sunshine, my only sunshine..."_

The tinkling notes of his specially assigned ringtone startled him so badly that he rolled out of his bed, legs tangled up in his Underdog sheets. Akamaru raised his head a little to check on his master and, apparently finding him satisfactorily uninjured, put it back down and closed his eyes.

"_...when you're not happy, my skies are gray..._"

As quickly and gracefully as he could, Kiba freed his feet from the knotted linens and clawed his way back onto his mattress. In his haste, however, he sunk his sharpened nails into the bottom sheet and mattress pad and, as he was raising himself up, tore them both from the bed. He went sprawling backwards with them and fell to the hardwood floor with a painful thump.

"_...you'll never know, dear, how much I love you..._"

After finally righting himself, he flung his body onto the bed headfirst and reached out for the glowing cell phone that was reaching the end of its song.

"_...please don't take my sunshine aw – _"

"Hinata!" he gasped into the receiver, flipping it open just in time.

"I-I'm sorry, Kiba-kun. D-Did I wake you...?"

"No, I was...uh...," Kiba thought for a few extended seconds about what to say, but drew nothing but a blank. "Are you okay?"

"Oh...yes...I just can't sl-sleep, is all."

"Oh...okay..."

There was a long stretch of silence on the line during which Kiba fidgeted restlessly on his bare mattress.

"I didn't think – "

"I j-just wanted to – "

After the simultaneous statements cut each other off, there was another significant span of time without any words between them, but it was shorter this time.

"Y-You go first, Kiba-kun."

"No, it's fine. What did you want to say?"

"Really, I'd l-like to hear what y-you have to say."

"Um...," now that he had the floor, he'd forgotten what he'd wanted to tell her. Well, apologizing again was always a good way to start. "I'm...I'm really sorry about...y'know..."

"It-It's okay, really. I'm not mad."

Kiba hardly dared to believe his ears. "Y-You're not?"

"No...I've heard that Inuzuka boys can be a little...um...different sometimes."

Oh, good. It seemed like their reputation preceded them. "I'm supposed to grow out of it...I think. I'm pretty sure I am, anyway. I can change."

"I th-think you're fine just the w-way you are."

"You mean except for...?"

"Oh, well, yes. Except for th-that..."

"Sorry again..."

"I-It's okay..."

Though the dead air between them was still flavored with awkwardness, it had become a different sort. Less guilty and more...something. Kiba couldn't quite name what it was, even though he felt he somehow knew it.

"W-Will I see you tomorrow?"

"You want to?"

"If y-you do..."

"Of course! Same time, same place?"

Hinata paused for a few seconds before replying, "Um..I w-was thinking maybe the training grounds near the sch-school this time."

"Oh, yeah...good idea."

"See you at seven...?"

"See you at seven."

"Good night..."

"'Night..."


	5. Dog Daze of Summer by Labbess

**Title: **Dog Daze of Summer**  
Author: **Labbess**  
Rating: **PG-13 ( T )**  
Challenge: **Dog Days of Summer**  
Pairing:** KibaHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, the original is posted right here on ff. net in Labbess' personal profile.

* * *

I should be naked and swimming in ice cream right now.

Inuzuka Kiba sat bolt upright as the tantalizing thought passed through his mind, chills of delight running through his body briefly. Now if only he knew where to find a 50 gallon vat of vanilla ice cream, then maybe everything else would just fall into--

"Kiba-kun, is something wrong?"

"Huh?"

"You sat up pretty quickly... Did something bite you?" Hyuuga Hinata's white eyes stared widely at him with concern.

"Uhh... Yeah. Maybe," the boy mumbled quickly, hardly wanting to plant the image of himself in his birthday suit doing backstrokes in frozen dairy products into the innocent girl's head. Okay, who was he kidding? Not only would he not mind lettingHinata's imagination run wild with that thought, but he was more than willing to bend the rules in any way possible to get her to join him. Or something of that nature.

To be honest, instead of being naked and swimming in ice cream as Kiba was currently hoping to do, what he should have been doing was taking Hinata out on a date. It had taken several weeks of careful planning (mostly with the help of Kurenai-sensei) but Kiba had finally worked up the courage to ask out his secret long time crush. And of course, on the one day he managed to convince her to go on a picnic with him and maybe "hang out" a little afterwards (but more importantly, garnering her entire family's permission), on the one day his sister didn't have any last minuteveternary chores for him to do and Shino was willing to babysit Akamaru, and on the one day there was neither the original nor a clone of that stupid Naruto, it just had to be super freaking hot! SUPER. FREAKING. HOT!! As if reading his mind, Hinata piped up.

"It... it sure is warm today, isn't it? It just turns everything sour," she offered quietly, hugging her arms modestly over the blacktanktop the heat had forced her to strip down to. Kiba sighed and took an angry swig of the water bottle from the picnic bag. He immediately regretted it.

"You're telling me," Kiba grumbled, roughly wiping his mouth with his fist and sticking out his tongue for emphasis as he emptied the contents of the bottle into the grass. "Even the bottled water tastes like toilet water!" There was a brief silence asHinata blushed slightly, blinked, and then turned to the boy next to her.

"Um... Kiba-kun... how do you know... what toilet water tastes like?" she asked carefully, a small frown on her face. Kiba opened his mouth to answer, closed it, blinked, looked at her sheepishly, and finally cleared his throat.

"So like you were saying, it's hot," he said loudly, hoping to perhaps drown out the inquisitive thought in Hinata's head.

"Ah, yes! I'm... I'm sorry the picnic isn't turning out as well as you wanted," she sighed, refolding the lavender jacket at her feet nervously.

"Yeah, well, at least we're together," Kiba said quickly, and then even more quickly, "Not that, you know, I meant together together. Obviously. 'cause we're not. And, uh-- Did I mention it's really hot?" Great going, Kiba, the boy thought to himself angrily. It's all this damn heat! If only I could... Wait a minute... Didn't Hana say something about today and heat? Come to think of it, I think she might have told me--

Suddenly, Kiba collapsed.

What the hell?! Kiba growled inwardly as his head made very loud and painful contact with the ground. He struggled to get up, but his muscles seemed to rebel and he was only able to lay there. His head began to throb and his vision swam dizzily-- what was going on?

"Arf!" It was the last thing Kiba remembered saying before blacking out.

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"Kiba-kun?" Hinata asked anxiously, noticing how rigid the Inuzuka boy had become all of a sudden. I wonder what he's thinking about so hard; he's been acting pretty strangely ever since he asked me on the picnic.

To be honest, Hinata had been hoping things would be a tad more romantic than they were. Oh! What was she doing, thinking about a teammate that way?! But it was true. Even before Naruto had officially started dating Ino,Hinata could feel herself losing interest in the blonde boy. Yes, he was cute. Yes, he was extremely bold and yes, she still admired him very much for his bravery and courage. And even, embarrassingly, yes, she did think he had a well-built body that gave her heart attacks whenever it was put on display. But he didn't like her back, and eventually, well... her little crush just seemed like a waste of time and effort. Which is when she started noticingKiba ; not just him (as they had been on the same team for quite some time), but the way he smirked in that sexy manner whenever he felt cocky, the way his laughter was like a warm, infectious blanket, the way his muscles rippled when he took his shirt off... Okay, maybe she had been noticing a little... too much. But all the same, when the time came when Naruto and Ino managed to somehow find a way to throw themselves together, not a tear was shed by theHyuuga heiress. If anything, in fact, she breathed a heavy sigh and wished, oh she wished that this time her little, fragile heart hadn't set itself on someone who would just ignore her. And that's where she found herself, sitting on the grassy knoll, wishing away asKiba–––

"Arf!" …as Kiba barked? Hinata's head immediately swiveled in the boy's direction.

"K… Kiba-kun?" She managed, but before she could properly formulate a sentence she found herself on her back, an excited Inuzuka having knocked her over.

O-oh, no, is he… c-c-could he really… I mean, here?! Hinata thought frantically, her mind doing spastic gymnastics in her skull as her face preceded to turn absolutely beet red. On the one hand she was delighted at the prospect thatKiba was so eager to show her affection, and on the other––– they were in public!

"K-K-Kiba-kun, you can't–––!" But again the poor girl was cut off… by a large red tongue sloppily making it's way across her cheek, leaving a trail of saliva in its wake. Wait, had he just… licked her?

"…Kiba-kun?" Hinata murmured in bewilderment as the boy leaped off of her and began to scratch the back of his ear with his foot (how had he even become that flexible?!) She could hardly believe her eyes.

"Kiba-kun, th… this isn't funny," the Hyuuga girl stammered, a small frown growing across her face. "Wh–wh–what are you doing? St… stop it…" The boy, however, seemed unphased and merely cocked his head to the side, his tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth. It was the look in his eyes that finally convinced her; there was no trace of the cocky, swaggeringKiba she had known. He seemed to have disappeared in a puff, leaving this… this… dog. What had Kiba done to deserve this? Better yet, what had she done to deserve this? Kiba, in the meantime, began to bark and chase after a nearby squirrel as Hinata shakily stood up.

"What do I do?" she wondered aloud. Should she just stay there and hope that the seemingly random transformation would wear off? Or should she contact the closest medic-nin and hope it wast the result of some brain damage-causing poison?

"Kiba-kun!" she called, then louder, biting her lip as she patted her leg as a symbol for "come." Immediately the boy rushed over, considerably quickly for someone who only spent about a third of his time on all fours normally.

"Ugh, this is a mess…" Hinata sighed, absentmindedly running her hand through the boy's hair as his face bumped against it. Realizing what she was doing, however, made the girl blush instantly and drop her hand back to her side. What was she doing? Treating him like a dog wasn't getting her anywhere, even if he was…

Hinata blinked rapidly. Even if he was from a dog-nin family! That was it! Surely Hana-san would know what was wrong with her baby brother, and if not, in the very least she was a veterinarian! At once hope broke across the girl's face.

"Kiba-kun, don't worry, we're going to fix this," Hinata smiled comfortingly at the boy, who barked loudly in response. Somehow, we're going to fix this… or else I'll end up in love with a dog.

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"Veterinarian? Hinata, that's all the way on the other side of town," Haruno Sakura announced as she leaned over the pristine white desk of the hospital. It wasn't often that the shy girl or anyone she knew, for that matter, dropped into the hospital whenSakura was on desk duty, so she was a little hesitant to deliver the bad news.

"Wh… what?" Hinata's face fell, her disappointment showing clearly.

"Yeah, you know, near the Inuzukas?" Sakura added, flicking a spiky tuft of pink hair over her shoulder. "Why do you need one, anyways? I thought the Hyuuga don't keep pets."

"Ah… Th-that is…" Hinata looked guiltily outside for a moment, and then gasped. "He's gone!"

"What? Who's gone?" the other girl asked, stretching as far as she could over the counter to gaze out the glass doors.

"Um, thank you, Sakura, I h-have to go! Thank you! Good-bye!" Hinata was already at the double doors, dark hair streaming behind her.

"W-wait, who's–––?" Bang! The doors slammed shut. "…gone?" The pink-haired kunoichi sighed, frowning and placing her hands on her hips. finally, with a decided nod Sakura began shuffling documents once more. Sheesh, the way that girl ran around you'd think she was still stalking Naruto or something.

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"Kiba-kun?" Hinata tucked her hair behind her ear as she glanced behind a trash can. No luck. "Kiba-kun, are you in here?" This had been going on for the last twenty minutes, and Hinata got the feeling that the longer she looked, the farther away the boy was getting. This was hopeless; he could be anywhere in Konoha at this very moment, barking at a cat, eating garbage, peeing a on a tree, and it was all her fault! Oh, why did she think telling him to "stay" would do any good? It barely worked when he was in the right frame of mind, lest when he had no mental restrictions.

"Kiiiiba-kuuuun!" She was lucky (if she wanted to stay in a positive mindset); the streets were practically empty at the moment and there was no one to see andKiba acting completely foolish. On the downside, the reason was clear; it was afternoon, and the sun was beating down worse than ever. It was almost getting hard to see, so much sweat was trickling into her eyes. It made the girl wonder if she shouldn't just use her…

And for the second time that day, Hinata realized how slowly the heat was making her brain function. Her byakugan! Of course! If she just used the Hyuuga kekkai genkai, then she wouldn't have to wander aimlessly about in this doggone (oh, no, now she was thinking in puns!) heat!

"Byakugan!" the girl announced loudly after completely the corrects handseals, her white eyes instantly seeking Kiba's familiar chakra. And there it was!

"Kiba-kun!" she sighed with elated relief, chasing after the chakra now with more energy than before. With no one outside, Kiba could not possibly get into too much trouble!

"Kiba, what in the name of all that is holy, beautiful, and buzzes are you–––?" …unless of course he encountered Shino.

"Sh…Shino-kun, I… I can explain…!" Hinata panted, knowing full well that she could not but hoping all the same that it would delay Kiba from finally giving Shino a reason to murder him in cold blood. She rounded the corner and, coming face to face with her teammates… or rather, would have come face to face with her teammates, had either been standing.

"Hinata!" The Aburame boy struggled and grasped in her general direction from under none other than Kiba himself. "Get… him… off… me…" The venom in those words alone was enough to stop a heart dead. Hinata gulped audibly.

"H… here, Kiba-kun! Here, boy!" She called, and of course the boy responded by bounding off his latest licking victim and trotting happily over. He barked with joy, nuzzling her pant leg as if to say, "I missed you!" TheHyuuga girl frowned slightly.

"Kiba-kun, you were… very bad to run off," she said, trying not to sound stupid. "You… you could have gotten hurt. I was worried." the boy responded with a whine, ducking his head.

"Can somebody explain what just happened?" Shino asked suddenly, his voice steely and dripping with potential rage as he dusted himself off.

"Uh… That is… Shino-kun, Kiba-kun's become a dog! …at least… that's what it seems like," Hinata added quietly as Shino's skepticism emanated towards her.

"He's become… a dog?"

"W-w-w-w-well, I know i-it doesn't make much sense, but you see, we were on the picnic today, a-a-and he was saying it was hot, and then… and then he was acting like this!"Hinata's eyes began to twinkle with unshed tears, the hopelessness of the situation surfacing. "Shino-kun , I don't know what to do. I was hoping Hana-san would know a cure, but…" She shook her head, brushing a fist across her eyes. "What if she doesn't? What if he's stuck like this for good?"

"Team 8 will certainly be different with two dogs…" It took Hinata a moment to realize that Shino was joking, and thus trying to cheer her up. It was still hard to tell.

"Um… yes, yes it will," she sniffed. Shino sighed quietly.

"He'll… be all right, Hinata. Don't worry, I'm sure there's some explanation," the insect-nin tried, managing to sound marginally concerned. Hinata was moved.

"You… think so?" she smiled, hope glimmering in her ivory eyes once more.

"I know so. Now, please kindly tell him to stop chewing my jacket or I will have to use force."

"K-Kiba-kun!" Hinata exclaimed in alarm. "B… bad boy! Sit!" Kiba immediately let go of the Aburame's coat and whined loudly, plopping down.

"S… sorry," Hinata bowed stupidly, not knowing what else to do. "W-well… I'm off to see Hana-san. Oh!"

"Yes?"

"I just thought of something," Hinata explained. "Wh… what if Kiba-kun and Akamaru-kun somehow… switched brains?" It was all Shino could do not to give Hinata a condescending look as she gazed at him in earnest.

"Not likely. I just dropped Akamaru off with Hana half an hour ago, and he seemed… fine," Shino mumbled with a disgust, a good indication that "fine" had a whole hidden meaning Hinata did not want to delve into.

"Oh, I see," the girl nodded, realizing that also explained why Shino was out in the blazing sun to begin with. Being covered up all the time as he was, the Aburame boy was quite prone to sunburn.

"Good luck," he said finally, turning away from her. "Knowing Kiba, you will need it."

"Ah, thank you, Shino-kun!" Hinata replied. "And… and you, too. Don't get burned!"

"…it's too late for that," came the boy's grumble, but by that time Hinata and Kiba were already out of ear shot. Shino shook his head in wonder. Who knew that cocky, wild Kiba could be tamed so easily by little Hinata?

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"You idiot!" Hana shouted testily, shaking her baby brother roughly by the collar of his jacket. "What did I tell you about going out into the sun? On today of all days? Why don't you listen to me!"

"Ah, Hana-san…?" Hinata piped up,concern plastered all over her cute features. "Um… Please don't hurt him… It's my fault…"

"Oh, you're still here," the brown-haired woman observed stupidly, dropping the boy without thought. He landed with a yelp on his head. "Sorry about that. A little older sister rage." Hana turned to acountertop, passing her hand trough rows of glass bottles.

"He's lucky to have a friend like you; any longer out in that heat and his days of being a shinobi would have been over." Despite this being positive news, Hinata squeaked in fear.

"He'll… be all right, won't he?" She asked as the other female messed around in a cluttered drawer and finally pulled out a syringe with delight.

"Ah! I knew I had this around here somewhere… But to answer your question, yes, he'll back to his stupid, ignoring-his-wiser sibling ways in no time. It's really not that hard to cure… if you have enough of the twelve-year-old, extremely rare herb around." While she talked, the woman began to ground some leaves with a mortar and passel, and then dumping the contents into the clear liquid of a beaker.

"If if you don't mind me asking, what exactly… happened to him?" Hinata patted the boy's head in indication as he lovingly nuzzled her hand. Hana raised an eyebrow, but decided not to comment.

"It's called the 'Dog Days of Summer' commonly, but every year around this time there's an extremely hot day because of some alignment of Sirius, the dog star." Hana flapped one hand in the air as if to say "If you believe that sort of thing."

"The dog star?" Hinata repeated.

"Yeah, well, whatever it is, it's had an effect on Inuzukas going clear back to our ancestors. If we stay out in the heat too long on this day," the woman gestured to Kiba and shrugged. "Poof! Something snaps in our brains and we start acting like our canine companions. Every other year our family has managed to stay indoors, but this year someone just had to go and challenge, 'Because I said so.'"

"I'm sorry; it's my fault," Hinata murmured. Suddenly, she realized that Kiba was going limp. "Hana-san, he's--!"

"Oh, don't worry; that bacon that 'fell' on the floor had a tranquilizer in it. He should be out for about as long as I need to do…this." And without warning Hana injected her brother with the serum she had been concocting all through the women's conversation. "Ha. Now that that's done, I've got some paperwork to fill out regarding one ofKonoha's guard dogs… do you mind keeping an eye on him?"

"Oh, um, of course not…" Hinata smiled. Hana gave her one last nod before leaving the room and going elsewhere in the clinic. The Hyuuga child sighed, stroking the soft brown hair of the boy's head which currently lay comfortably, asleep, in her lap. How long exactly untilKiba woke up again? And what then? If he remembered everything, he would probably be so embarrassed that he wouldn't want to spend any time with her ever again. Not to mention it was her fault for his random transformation in the first place.

"Oh, Kiba-kun," the girl mumbled aloud. "If only you knew. If only there was some way I could stop… stop picking the wrong one. but I suppose it's back to friendship, now. No more caresses, no more of you actually paying attention to me… Well, I suppose now is a good a time as ever, then.Kiba-kun , I love you. I wanted to tell you that when we were sitting together today, when you were a dog… I didn't stop loving you even then. So… so that's all." Exhaling softly,Hinata smiled. Well, no one could say that she hadn't told him, right? Even if it did seem a little unfair since he was–––

"Do you mean that?" …asleep? Hinata jumped up, screaming, startled as Kiba's voice drifted to her ears.

"OW!" for the thrid time that day, Kiba's skull crashed against the ground.

"K-K-K-K-Kiba-kun, h-h-h-h-how long have you b-b-b-b-been awake?" Hinata cried, her heart doing somersaults in her throat.

"Well, to tell the truth, I never really fell asleep," he admitted, rubbing his head gingerly. "Damn, that's gonna leave a nasty mark."

"Ah, s-sorry," the girl managed, bringing a nervous fist to her lips. "Are you okay?" The boy looked at her for a second, mouth open to reply, then blushed and turned away.

"Crap, this is so awkward. Look, I'm the one who should be sorry."

"W…why?" Kiba sighed heavily.

"Hinata, I was aware of everything."

"What?"

"The tackles, the squirrels, the… licks… I was there for all of it. I mean, obviously I wasn't in control, but I… I was there. So I can understand if you're suddenly willing to take back that little speech you made, 'cause–––"

"Kiba-kun." The boy's tongue halted, and he looked at the girl questioningly.

"I…" Her face was a red tomato, and she couldn't help biting her lip to try to stop the flow of words, but Hinata seemed determined. "I… I meant what I said. I mean… if you don't… if you don't… it's okay. I'll understand. It's happened before." She looked at him full in the face then, her eyes once more shimmering on his account. "It's okay, really. I just… I just thought you should know."

"Aw, crap…" And just like that Hinata found herself tightly wrapped in Kiba's arms. "Would you stop crying already? I like you, okay? I… um… yeah, I always had a thing for you! And today, that was supposed to be a date before I botched it. So stop crying, okay? Please?" she looked at him, wide-eyed.

"R… really? You…?"

"Yes, now please stop crying, you're killing me, here!" Hinata chuckled slightly, wiping her eyes with her fist.

"I'm sorry, it's just… now I'm happy." Kiba snorted, then smirked.

"Yeah, me, too." He kissed the top of her head quickly, then blushed and looked away. Gah, this is so cliche…

"So you were aware when you were acting like a dog?" Hinata asked after a while as the two finally hot up. "What was it like?"

"Argh, never again," Kiba moaned, hiding his face in his hands. "From now on I'm listening to Hana…"

"But…" Hinata paused, thinking. "If you had listened to Hana-san, we wouldn't have realized…" She was unable to finish the sntence, the concept still fresh. Kiba peeked out from behind his hands.

"Yeah, I guess that's true…" he muttered. Then he grinned mischievously. "And I guess there was one more good thing that happened."

"What?" Hinata asked brightly, turning to face him. Instead, she was met a with a big, sloppy tongue running up her face.

"That!" The girl squealed in shock and embarrassment, giving chase when she realized that the boy was already halfway out the door. Their one thought, in unison as they chased after each other with laughter down the veterinary clinic halls (which Hana made a point of loudly complaining about later), was simple and sweet: I want you. I need you. I love you. Everything else can go to the dogs.

— — —

**Author's Note:** Hana was out of character, the ending was barf-worthy it was so sickeningly cliche-sweet, and Deus ex Machina, anyone? 8D Oh, well. Review all the same, please!


	6. He could be anywhere by bArs

**Title:** He could be anywhere**  
Author:** broken-Angel-requiem-soul**  
Rating:** PG ( K+ )**  
Challenge:** Dog Days of Summer**  
Pairing:** KibaHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, the original is posted right here on ff. net in broken-Angel-requiem-soul's (aka, purpleLights on DA) personal profile.

* * *

Kiba continued to run after Akamaru. If he didn't get him to the vets soon, _he_ is the one who is going to get in trouble later. Really, what Inuzuka couldn't handle their own dog?

Dimly, he caught scent of his pet and sped up. He stopped when he saw Hinata, perhaps she knew where his dog is.

"Oi! Hinata!"

"H-Hi, K-Kiba-kun."

"Have you seen Akamaru? I'm suppose to take him somewhere, and if I don't get their soon, I'm the one who is going to get into trouble."

H-Hai. Akamaru is h-here with m-me." Hinata said, lifting up her arms to show the little dog asleep in her arms.

"Good. Cuz he is going to the V-E-T-S today to get a physical." he said and added as an after thought when he saw her lifting her arms to give Akamaru to him, "Would you mind walking with me? Akamaru can be a light sleeper when he wants to," It was true! Once on a blue moon, Akamaru could detect even the slightest air anomalies(_which happen to be around _vet _time_), it wasn't like he was doing it to spend more time with her! It wasn't, that's completely ludicrous!

Hinata agreed with a cherry red blush on her face and they made their way to the vets-- until Akamura became aware of Kiba's presence. It seemed as though Akamaru had gained access to a soldier pill because he jumped out of Hinata arms as fast as lighting, but as it seems luck wasn't on his side. Hinata still had his lesh on her arm from when she picked him up.

Kiba also seemed to notice this, and he placed his larger hands over his teammates soft, smaller ones and began to pull Akamura back, while Akamaru was fighting back with the same tenacity to not get caught. However, in the end, Kiba had more strength. Once he had gotten his dog close enough, Kiba grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and jumped away... forgetting the shell shock girl (_his crush?_) he left behind.


	7. Have it all at Havertys by Selene98

**Title: **Have it all at Havertys**  
Author: **Selene98**  
Rating: **PG ( K+ )**  
Challenge:** Dog Days of Summer**  
Pairing:** KibaHina

We ask that you PLEASE refrain from reviewing this story here. If you would like to do so, please visit our homepage on DeviantArt for directions to the original post.

* * *

Hinata Hyuuga wasn't one to be very spontaneous. If anything she was very predictable. Many of her friends could tell you exactly how she spent her day, because she did almost the exact same thing every day.

Wake up.

Go about morning business.

Meet her friends at the coffee shop for a tall cappuccino.

Go to work.

Go home.

Spend time with friends.

Go to sleep.

Repeat.

And with a few exceptions for special occasions, that was how Hinata lived. And she liked it that way. She didn't have to worry much about what was going to happen next, because she already knew. So when her best friend Kiba had invited to go furniture shopping of all things, everyone expected her to say no. Everyone expected her to turn him down politely and go about her day like she normally would. It seemed that for once, Hinata was being spontaneous, and everyone was surprised.

"You will?" Kiba said, leaning over the table, almost spilling his frappachino.

"Well, sure… When do you want to go? I'm free this weekend, if you'd like to go then." Hinata gave Kiba a small smile. Kiba grinned and grabbed Hinata's hand.

"We have to go now! There's a sale, and it's only for today, so let's go!" Kiba dragged Hinata along, outside of the small coffee shop and into a nearby taxi. The group at the table stared on in shock, not quite sure how to handle what had just happened.

"Did Kiba really just run out with Hinata to go buy furniture?" Asked Ino, who had started to drink her coffee again.

"I think he did. But I still don't believe it." Naruto said, shaking his head, as if to shake away an illusion.

And that is how Hinata Hyuuga and Kiba Inzuka came to stand right in front of a Havertys. A large banner tied above the door advertised the two-day sale.

"All items 20-70 off during the "Dog Days of Summer" Sales Event!"

To top off the very spontaneous events, Kiba also had his puppy, Akamaru, tucked into his jacket. The two walked in, and an employee came to greet them. The young woman smiled at the two, and spoke in a cheery voice.

"Hello, and welcome to Havertys! Are you two looking for anything in particular today that I could help you with?" Kiba shook his head.

"Nah, we're just checking things out." He said. Suddenly, Akamaru's head appeared at the opening of Kiba's jacket. The woman looked startled, but simple smiled more.

"Aww, you brought your puppy! How cute. Just make sure that dog hair doesn't get on the furniture and it should be okay."

Kiba and Hinata walked all around the showroom floor, sitting on almost every chair and sofa, comparing opinions.

"You know, I don't think leather is the right fabric for your apartment." Hinata said, after getting up from a black leather chair.

"Why's that? Leather is man's fabric!" Kiba said, sitting himself down on the chair Hinata had previously occupied.

"Because it's too hard to take care of, and too expensive to be with the rest of your furniture. And Akamaru would tear it up." Kiba shrugged, and the two moved on.

They came to a large red sofa, and the two sat down on either end of it. Kiba lounged comfortably, and let out a sigh, while Hinata seemed to disappear into the soft, squishy fabric.

"I like this one, how about you Hinata?" He asked, after getting up from the unusually soft couch. Hinata accepted the hand he offered, and with Kiba's help, she managed to escape the confines of the cushions.

"It's a bit too big…" Hinata trailed off, not having a very god reason to say no to the sofa. Kiba shrugged, and walked on.

"So you don't like it. No biggie. We'll find one!" The two continued on, and it seemed that they had covered every inch of the store, before Hinata stumbled into the small clearance section. At the very back of the room, was a brown loveseat. Hinata sat down, not sinking into the cushion, but not bouncing from its firmness. She leaned back, and allowed herself to relax for once that day.

Kiba sat down beside her, while Akamaru jumped out of his jacket and onto Hinata's lap. The two were very close, but not so close as to be uncomfortable. And the two sat there, completely complacent to just stay where they were, and relax. It was at that monet that the greeter decided to barge in on them.

"So how are you doing? Did you two find anything-" The woman stopped speaking when she saw the two sitting comfortably on the loveseat. "I guess you two found what you were looking for." She giggled and turned around to leave, before looking back at them and winking. Hinata stared at her as she walked away, a bright blush on her face. Then she turned to face Kiba, looking somewhat perplexed.

"Kiba, why did you invite me to come with you? Surely someone else would have been better." She said. A small blush found its way to Kiba's face, and he forced himself to look Hinata in the eye.

"Well, you see. I wanted your opinion because, well…" Kiba trailed off, before taking in a big breath. His next statement was spoken so quickly that Hinata almost didn't understand it.

"I sort of like you, and I want you to be comfortable in my apartment, because I was hoping you could be my girlfriend!" He looked hopefully at Hinata, who didn't seem to have heard. But she had.

Hinata flung herself at Kiba, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him tightly. The two embraced, and it was the start of a beautiful, and highly spontaneous relationship.

But alas, poor Akamaru was to be constantly stuck between the two in their very emotional hugs, no matter how big he would eventually get.


End file.
